Category Archives: Weekly newsletter

THIRTIETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

For the past three weeks, the liturgy of the word has been prompting us to review our prayer lives.  If we refer to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (numbers 2559ff ) we read there:

‘Prayer is the raising of one’s mind and heart to God  or the requesting of good things from God.’ (St John Damascene, De fide orth)

But when we pray do we speak from the height of our pride and will, or ‘out of the depths’ of a humble and contrite heart? (see Ps 130)   For the person who humbles himself will be exalted; (see Lk18:9-14)  Humility is the foundation of prayer. “O God, be merciful to me – the sinner”, prays the contrite tax collector.  This utter humility of his is what made him at rights with God.  And this is the message of today’s parable: It’s a lesson on humility, honesty, repentance and openness, and is what Jesus wants of us! And notice the context of that man’s humility, honesty, repentance and openness: it’s prayer!  –  That act by which we come before God with the totality of our lives and making ourselves vulnerable to his gracious mercy. (see Eccles 35: 16).

Let us pray!!

Fr Philip Sainter

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PONDERING THE WORD OF GOD
– WHICH INVITES US TO PRAY

Last week’s encouraging words from Luke’s gospel were:

1. To seek and pray for mercy (Kyrie eleison!).
2. To seek reconciliation (“Go and show yourself to the priest”).
3. To come before the Lord in humble prayer.

This Sunday our first reading portrays Moses leading God’s people towards the Promised Land. In the face of adversity, Moses prays. The moment he stops praying, disaster strikes.   We then hear Jesus telling his disciples a parable about the need to pray continually and never lose heart.

So, God’s Word is reinforcing the necessity of prayer.  Pray continually and never lose heart!

Pray on your own, pray spontaneously, pray the prayers of the Church, pray together with your friends … but never cease to pray!

Fr Philip Sainter

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PONDERING THE WORD OF GOD

We often associate “the peripatetic” with Aristotle (+ 322BC) who taught philosophy while walking in the Lyceum of ancient Athens.  Luke’s gospel portrays Jesus also adopting the “peripatetic style” as he taught his disciples, and the crowds who followed him, as he made his way to Jerusalem.

This Sunday’s story of the Ten Lepers has lessons which must be learned by us as we journey through life, endeavouring to proclaim Jesus and our faith in him. Combining two stories – Jesus healing ten lepers (vv 11-14) and the return of the grateful Samaritan who thereby earned Jesus’ praise and salvation (vv 15-19) – Luke instructs us and encourages us:

1. To seek and pray for mercy: “Jesus, Master ! Have mercy on us” ( – Kyrie, eleison! Christe, eleison! Kyrie, eleison! )
2. To come before the priests to seek reconciliation “Go and show yourself to the priests”. (Please read Leviticus 14,  Romans 14:11-12, 1 John 1:9 & James 5:16)
3. To come before Jesus, the divine Son of God in humble prayer: humbly falling on our knees in reverence, praise and thanksgiving to Jesus our Lord and Saviour.

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ON PRAYING TO OUR GUARDIAN ANGELS

On 29^th October we celebrated the feast of the Archangels, Saints Michael, Gabriel and Raphael. On 2^nd October we remember our Guardian Angels. St Bernard begins his reflections on their importance in our lives by quoting Ps 90: ‘God has given his angels charge of you, to guard you in all your ways.’ So, let us pray to our Guardian Angels each day and also teach our children and grandchildren to do the same:

Angel of God, my Guardian dear, to whom God’s love commits me here, ever this day (or night) be at my side, to light and guard, to rule and guide.

Amen.

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ON PRAYING THE ROSARY

The Roman Pontiffs have continuously and consistently stressed the importance of reciting the Rosary every day. Below are some quotations:

Would you like me to tell you a ‘secret’?  It is simple, and after all, is no secret: ‘Pray, pray much. Say the Rosary every day.’ -Pope Saint John Paul II

How beautiful is the family that recites the Rosary in the evening. -Pope Saint John Paul II

Spread the Rosary, the prayer so dear to the Virgin and so esteemed by popes; by it the faithful can best fulfil the command of Christ: ‘ Ask and it shall be given; seek and you shall find; knock and it shall be opened to you.’ (Mt. 7:7). The Rosary puts all who have trust in it into communication with Our Lady. -Pope Paul VI

The Rosary is the most beautiful and the richest of all prayers to the Mediatrix of all grace; it is the prayer that touches most the heart of the Mother of God. Say it each day.-Pope St. Pius X

The Rosary is the most excellent form of prayer and the most efficacious means of attaining eternal life. It is the remedy for all our evils, the root of all our blessings. There is no more excellent way of praying. -Pope Leo XIII

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WEALTH EXISTS TO BE SHARED

Riches fulfil their function of service to man when they are destined to produce benefits for others and for society [The Shepherd of Hermas]. “How could we ever do good to our neighbour,” asks St. Clement of Alexandria, “if none of us possessed anything?” In the perspective of St. John Chrysostom, riches belong to some people so that they can gain merit by sharing them with others. Wealth is a good that comes from God and is to be used by its owner and made to circulate so that even the needy may enjoy it. Evil is seen in the immoderate attachment to riches and the desire to hoard. St. Basil the Great invites the wealthy to open the doors of their storehouses and he exhorts them: “A great torrent rushes, in thousands of channels, through the fertile land: thus, by a thousand different paths, make your riches reach the homes of the poor”. Wealth, explains Saint Basil, is like water that issues forth from the fountain: the greater the frequency with which it is drawn, the purer it is, while it becomes foul if the fountain remains unused. The rich man — Saint Gregory the Great will later say — is only an administrator of what he possesses; giving what is required to the needy is a task that is to be performed with humility because the goods do not belong to the one who distributes them. He who retains riches only for himself is not innocent; giving to those in need means paying a debt.

No. 329 from the “Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church”, 2004

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